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The Phoenician Alphabet |
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We aren't sure who invented the alphabet, but the oldest writing with an alphabet was found in the ruins of the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos. Byblos was on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea on the Sinai Peninsula. The writing dates to about 2000 - 1500 BC. The Phoenician alphabet spread to Greece, Italy, North Africa, France, and Spain - wherever the Phoenician sailors traveled and traded. The Phoenicians probably made written records of their business deals, and eventually their trading partners also wanted to keep track of their transactions. The Phoenician alphabet had 22 consonants, but no vowels. It was written right to left with no spaces in between words. "Aleph" is the name of the first letter and "bet" the second letter. The Greeks borrowed these names for their first two letters and used them to form the word for alphabet - "alphabetos."
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